Redding in Shasta County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Gold Fever in Clear Creek

By Douglass Halvorsen, April 18, 2015

1. Gold Fever in Clear Creek Marker

Inscription. The discovery of gold...
Major Pierson B. Reading discovered gold in Clear Creek in 1848 at what is now known as Reading Bar, located about a mile upstream. Thousands of people rushed here in search of fortune. Gold fever spread and caught people from all walks of life, who quit their jobs and headed for the California gold fields.

Created many boomtowns...
Miners often lived a sparse existence in tents, cabins, or shacks while working their claims. Gold mining settlements or "boomtowns" sprung up rapidly with names like Horestown, Muletown, and Whiskeytown. Horsetown was located about two miles upstream. At the height of the Gold Rush, Horsetown covered 36 acres and had about 1,000 inhabitants. Chinese miners arrived in Shasta County in the early 1850s. Hard working and efficient they often found gold in areas previously mined and successfully worked these abandoned claims.

Followed by busted towns...
Very few of the original mining settlements in Shasta County remain. Most of what remained of Horsetown was destroyed by dredging around the turn of the 20th century. The boomtown that was once Whiskeytown was submerged with the construction of Whiskeytown Reservoir.

And then corporate mining.
Eventually corporations replaced individual miners and these large-scale

By Douglass Halvorsen, April 18, 2015

2. Clear Creek

mining operations left thousands of acres covered in mine tailings. In the late 1800s copper replaced gold as the leading ore mines in Shasta County.

Erected by Bureau of Land Management.

Location. 40° 29.616′ N, 122° 28.028′ W. Marker is in Redding, California, in Shasta County. Marker can be reached from Clear Creek Rd. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Redding CA 96001, United States of America.

Credits. This page was last revised on January 22, 2018. This page originally submitted on January 19, 2018, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. This page has been viewed 57 times since then. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 19, 2018, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.